American Apparel Reports 2013 Financials

Supplier Had Difficult Q4

Top 40 supplier American Apparel (asi/35297) announced its preliminary 2013 total sales increased to $633.9 million, a 3% year-over-year gain. Wholesale net sales, which include the company’s promotional products revenues, rose 4%. Despite positive total-year numbers, though, American Apparel suffered through a difficult Q4, as revenues slipped 2%. For December, total sales dropped 6%, with wholesale net sales declining by 2%, the company said. The Los Angeles-based company also announced a 7% decrease in comparable store sales in its retail store channel in December and a 1% decrease in net sales in its online channel.

“Although December was disappointing, and we could face a challenging environment for the remainder of the winter, our management team is energized and we are excited about our prospects for spring and summer 2014 as well as for the calendar year as a whole,” said Dov Charney, CEO of American Apparel.

In a statement, Charney blamed his company’s weak December on several factors, including a shorter than usual holiday shopping season and the “under-buying” of some of American Apparel’s best-selling items. “Our management team was intensely distracted during the implementation of our new distribution center,” Charney said, adding that the new facility has been completed. Charney also said American Apparel’s sales improved towards the end of December, with comparable store sales down just 1.7% during the final week of the month.

Ranked as the 14th largest supplier in the industry, American Apparel reported 2012 North American ad specialty sales of $96.8 million, a year-over-year gain of 7.3%.